Floor cleaner



Oct. 9, 1928.

W. DEUTSCHER FLOOR CLEANER Filed June 18, 1926 lNVENT R Patented ea. 9, 1928.

" UN ED STAT-as; P E OFFER, a}

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. moon CLEANER.

Lpplication filedjune 1a, 1926. serialize. 116,878.

My im'entionrelates'to anew andiniproved fioorcleaner, although. my invention 1s not limited to this specific use.

One of the objects of my inventionis to 5 devise a cleansing device whereby the. sur-.

face to be cleaned is scrubbed with soap-water or any other suitable cleansin'gfiuidand at is then rapidly freed from the cleanslng flu d so that it is left in thedry condition or in vl practically'the dry condit-ion'. I

Another object of my invention is to devise an apparatus for this purpose which will be simple, compact and reliable in operation.

Another object of my inventionisto devise.-

1 an apparatus of'this. character which shall be especially adapted for removing the film of moisture which tends to remain on every wet surface. 1

Other objects of my invention will be set forth in the following description-and drawings which illustrate a preferred embodimentthereof, itbeing understood that the abovewith wheels 2 bymeans of which the carriage may be readily moved upon the floor in any suitable direction. The wheels 2- may be turned in any suitable direction so that the device can be mov'edin any desired direction. The casing referred to by the reference numeral 1 includes the material which forms the.

cc passage 11 and the trap 15, the last two parts be ng further described in the specification. I The casing 1 is provided-with a brush 3 mounted upon a suitable shaft 4:. 'As shown in Fig. 1. the'shaft 4 is provided with a sprocket I 'ply of clean water which can be mixed with 46 5 and this is connected by meansof a chain 6 to a sprocket 7 which is' s'uitably actuated by means of an electric motor M mounted in the casino: 8. The shaft 9 'of this electric motor is provided with a sprocket 10 which-is suit ably connected'to the intermediate sprocket 7 by any suitable intermediate gears, as diagrammatically shown in Fig. 1. I

The casing 1 is provided wit-ha suction passage 11 and this is preferably behind the 55 brush 3 when the device is pushed along the the floor. However, I prefer that the ab Fig 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

floor. The suction'pgssage 11 is provide d with a mass of absor nt material12. This "suction passage oropening l liscur'ved toprovide the trap, 15. This absorbent material 12 can be made of cotton or any suit-' 9 able absorbentmaterial; or fabricof any. kind. A- screen 14 is provided tokeepthe absorbent material in position and a similar; screen 14' may be provided, if desired, at the bottom of the suction passage 11.

In the operation of the device itis intended that the suction passage 11 should either rub l ghtly upon the fioorcwhich is being washed or should be at a very short distance above sorbent material 12 shoulddirectly contact with the floor which is being cleaned and for this purpose the absorbent material 12 may consist of a long wickthe top of which is connected in any suitable manner to the screen 14 while the bottomiof this long wick rubs alongthe floor which is being Washed, so that I. the capillary action of the absorbent material positively takes upthe water on the floor.

Experiencehas shown that a-mere suction nozale without the absorbent wick 12 is of low efficiency in removing the lasttrace of moisture ,on a floor. The water which is forced through thewick 12 by means of the suction device to be later explained collects in a pool in the trap 15 and it-istaken out of this trap 15 through the, pipe 16'to the tank 17 which serves to'hold the waste or dirty water. Since the suction passage-11 is enclosed, all the air entering the, same must pass upwardly through the bottom p artof the wick 12, so

"that the water absorbed by wick 12 is positive ly raised by suction; I

As shown-in Fig. 1; the pipe 16 communicates with the top of the tank 17. The tank 17 can be provided at the bottom thereofwith any suitable'outlet valve 22' for draining off the waste water. y

A tank 18 is provided for holding a supf 21 and this is provided with a fan or blow- 116 er 25 by means of which tlie-lair'is forced out through the fan casing 21, at the right-handside of the apparatus, as is'shown in Fig. 1. V The-fan casing 21 has an inlet-which is connected with the pipe 27 at a point adjacent the shaft 9. .The inner and outer ends of v the pipe 27 are closedand theinner end of the I pipe 27 is connected to the casing l, asshown in -Fig. 3. v

The pipe 27 has an opening ad acent the shaft 9 by means of which is communicates with the fan casing 21 so that when the blower 25 is operated, air is forced outof the pipe 27. This is indicated by the arrows in duces asufiicient suction over the entire cross- F g. 1. The top of the waste water tank 17 is connected to the pipe 27 by means of an hpper passage-80. Hence, when air 1s forced out of the pipe 27 air isalso forced outofthe top of the waste water tank 17 and thls pro:

duces enough suction in the pipe 16 todrain' the water out of the trap 15 and to cause the water to pass'into the waste tank 17.

Similarly, pipe 32 has an open bottom and is connected to the casing 1 adjacent the ,ab-- 'sorbent material 12 and the top of the pipe 82 also communicates with the top of the waste water tank- 17 so that a suction is. s imultaneously creatediin the pipe 32 and this forces air up through the absorbent material 12 to raise, the water absorbed thereby. Some of this water will fall into the trap 15 to be drawn up in the pipe 16. r

Hence, when the motor is operated an the device ismoved forward upon the floor to, be cleaned, the fioorfis subjected to a vigorous scrubbing action because of the rapid revolution of the brush 3 to whlch soap water is supplied, and the moisture 1s rapidly removed because of the suction combined with the absorbent material 12, so that the waste or dirty wateris accumulated in the' tank 17. The capillary action of the finely divided material 12 is not sufficient to raise the water therein withrsuflicient rapidity for the purposes of a practical machine. However, the construction above mentioned provsection of the finely'divided material and particularly at the edges of the mass of finely divided material. This causes the water to be drawn up in a series of 'finely divided streams over substantially the entlre exposed 'area of a mass of' absorbentmaterial.

' the contrary the suction were concentrated upon a relatively small area of the mass of finely divided material, the raising of'the moisture would be correspondlngly limited so that the device could not operate-with sufii= sure in pipe ci'ent rapidity.

The cross-sections of the'pipes 16 and 32 are such with relation to this cross-section of pipe handle 27. that thelowering of preshandle '27 produces the desired result. I

If desiredpthe device could be employed with the t'rushis remdved, so that'it could be operated to dry any wet surface. While the device is operagring, little or no Waterwill collect in trap 15, ecause the suction through the widepipe 32 moves most of the water up" through said pipe 32.' When the operation of the device is interrupted, any water in the pipe, 32 will 'fiow backand collect in the trap 15.

/ I have showna preferred embodiment of my invention, but it is clear that numerous changes and omissions could be made without departing, from its, spirit.

1. *Ina cleaning device, the combination of a movable casing having a vertical passage therein through which liquid can be drawn, a

suction pipe having an inlet end communicating with the said passage,'means adapted to lower the air pressure in the said suction pipe,

,said casing underneath the inletend' of the said suction pipe being provided with a trap for liquid, Wherebywhenthe operation of the sald means is stopped, any liquid draining back from the saidsuction pipe is collected in the said trap, anda second suction pipe con'nected tothe lower portion of said .trap whereby it-is adapted to drain the liquid collected therein, the first mentioned suction,

pipe and'the second suction pipe being connected to the same suction means.

2. In a cleaning device, the combination of a movable casing having a vertical passage therein through which liquid can be drawn,

.a suction pipe having an lnlet'e'nd communicating with the said passage, means adapted to lowerv the air pressure in said suction pipe, .the said casing underneath the inlet end of the said suction pipe be ingprovided with a trap for liquid, whereby when the operation of .the said means is stopped, any liquid draining back from the said suction pipe is collected the said trap, and means adapted to withdraw any liquid accumulated in the said trap. said passage having a mass of absorbent.

material therein.

3. In a cleaning device, the combination of a movable casing having a passage extending vertically therethrough,atank forwaste water connected to said casing, ahollow main pipe having'both ends thereof closed andextending upwardly from the 'saidcasing, the lower end of the said hollow main pipe beingconnected to the casing and being movable therewith, exhaust. means connected to the said hollow main pipe and adapted to exhaust the main pipe to the said tank so that when the air pressure in the said hollow main'pipe is air therefrom, a pipe connecting said hollow air pressure in the said passage will also be lowered. I I Y 4. In a cleaning device, the combination of of a movable casing having a passage extend ing vertically therethrough, a tank for waste water connected to said casing, a-hollow main pipe having both ends thereof closed and extending upwardly from tlie said casing, the lower end of the said hollow main pipe being connected to the casing and-being movable therewith, exhaust means connected to' the said hollow main pipe and adapted to exhaust the air therefrom, a pipe connecting said hollow main pipe to the said tank so that when the air pressure in the said hollow main pipe is reduced, the air pressure in the said tank will also be reduced, and a second pipe having one end thereof communicating with the said passage and having the other end communicating with the said tank, whereby when the air pressure in the said tank is lowered, the air pressure in the said passage will also be lowered, the said casing being provided with a trap -for liquid located underneath the mouth of the first mentioned pipe,

and a third pipe connecting the tank.

v 5. A washing and drying device comprising a casing having an upwardly extending recess, a revoluble brush located in said recess, means connected to said, casing and adapted to supply a cleansing liquid to said brush,-means adapted to actuate said brush, a hollow pipe handle closed at its ends and connected to said casing, exhaust means adapted to lower the air pressure in said pipe handle and actuated by ,the same means which actuate said brush, said exhaust means communicating with said pipe handle intermediate the ends thereof, said casing having an upwardly extending inlet passage for liquid; the wall of said lnlet passage forming.

part of said casing, said inletpassage having a liquid trap formed therein, a tank connected to said casing, a pipe connecting the top portion of said tank to said pipe handle, and separate pipes connecting the top portion of said tank. to said passage and said trap.

In testimony whereof'I afiix m signature.

' WILLIAM DEU vSCHER.

the said trap to 

